This is one of two contributions by me for the "Light My Way" Show... I had never worked with gourds before, this was my first one, and the inpiration for it came from the beautiful sunflowers that grow in my home garden. My goal for this piece was to preserve the natural shape of the gourd with all of its beautiful contours while at the same time making it appear fragile & delicate. I started out with a pencil and quick sketched the sunflowers on making sure to always connect them together, I then proceded to carefully carve between the flowers(total actual carving time was 6 hours) the carvings encompas the entire gourd. The sunflower centers were burned in using a woodburning tool. I chose to leave the inside natural, I feel it gives the lantern a really wonderful golden glow when lit. I finished the piece with some fine sanding and a few coats of varnish to bring out the natural golden mottled surface on the sunflower petals that resulted from the gourds drying process. I feel the best part of this piece is that when lit at night sends "showers" of flowers all over the place.